biological - malaria

• What type of disease is malaria?

  Communicable (infectious) disease
• How is malaria biologically spread?

  By parasites carried by female mosquitoes
• What fraction of the world's population is at risk of malaria?

  Nearly half
• Who are the most susceptible to dying from severe malaria?

  Infants, children under 5, pregnant women
• How many people contracted malaria in 2020?

  241 million
• How many people died from malaria in 2020?

  Around 627,000
• What populations are vulnerable to malaria when entering high transmission areas?

  Migrants, mobile populations, and travellers
• What can some adults in malaria-endemic areas develop?

  Partial immunity to malaria
• What are the physical impacts on malaria transmission?

  • Stagnant water as mosquito breeding grounds
  • Transmission rates fall with less than 1,000mm rainfall
  • Parasites survive only between 16°C-32°C
• What are the socio-economic impacts on malaria transmission?

  • Poverty limits prevention investments
  • Poor housing quality increases disease rates
  • High population density accelerates transmission
  • Malnutrition reduces infection resistance
  • Better education improves prevention knowledge
  • Poor sanitation attracts mosquitoes
  • Age affects risk, with children and elderly most vulnerable
• What are the management and mitigation strategies for malaria?

  • Antimalarial drugs and vaccines for at-risk populations
  • Seasonal malaria chemoprevention (SMC) for vulnerable groups
  • Quick and accurate diagnosis and treatment
• What is vector control in malaria management?

  • Use of insecticide-treated mosquito nets (ITNs)
  • Targeting vulnerable communities
• How have malaria transmission rates changed from 2000 to 2020?

  Increased from 6 to 26 countries with fewer cases
• Negatives of mitigation and management strategies:

  • antimalarial drugs are expensive and less available for remote areas
  • insecticides can have negative affects on people's health - some have been linked to cancer and deaths of fish in local water ecosystem
  • evidence in Thailand mosquitoes are developing resistance to insecticides so are becoming less effective